Tree Removal in Joliet, IL

Tree removal in Joliet looks different depending on which side of the river you live on. East of the Des Plaines, in neighborhoods like the Upper Bluff and the East Side historic districts, houses from the 1850s through the early 1900s sit on narrow lots under trees that are often as old as the homes. West of the river, and out toward Plainfield and the Kendall County line, most yards belong to subdivisions built in the last few decades, where the trees are younger but often planted too close to the house. In both places the question we answer first is the same: how does this tree come down without touching anything that matters?

A city of about 150,000, most of them homeowners

Joliet counted 150,362 residents in the 2020 Census, making it one of the largest cities in Illinois, and Census estimates put the owner-occupied rate at 73.7%. That means most of the trees we deal with belong to people who plan to stay, and who care about the lawn, the beds and the driveway as much as the tree. We plan equipment routes around them and price each tree on its own line so a homeowner can handle the dangerous one now and the rest later.

Old neighborhoods, tight access

The Upper Bluff Historic District alone holds 616 buildings, most built in the 1880s and 1890s in Italianate, Classical Revival and Queen Anne styles, and the Joliet East Side Historic District adds 290 more, some dating to the 1850s. Mature trees on those blocks spread over porches, roofs, detached garages and the neighbor's yard. Driveways are narrow, and many backyards are reached only through a gate or from an alley. That is why so much removal work here is done in sections: a climber or lift takes the crown apart from the top, and heavy pieces are lowered on ropes. When there is no safe way to climb or lower, a crane can lift sections over the house to the street.

Storm history here is real

Joliet residents do not need to be told that wind can take trees down. On August 28, 1990, the F5 Plainfield tornado tore through Joliet subdivisions including Crystal Lawns, Warwick and Peerless Estates before lifting near Woodlawn Avenue and Campbell Street. It killed 29 people and remains the only F5 on record in the Chicago area. Severe straight-line winds are far more common than tornadoes like that one. During the August 2020 derecho, gusts of 60 to 70 mph swept across northern Illinois in the afternoon, and ComEd reported more than 800,000 of its customers lost power. Big summer storms are when cracked leaders, hollow trunks and heavy limbs over roofs finally fail, and they are a good reason to deal with a worrying tree before the season starts.

Ash, oak and the trees that are left

Will County was mostly prairie when it was settled; an 1854 gazetteer described it as nearly without timber outside small groves. Much of the canopy in Joliet was planted, and for decades ash was a favorite street and yard tree. Emerald ash borer has been killing those ash across northern Illinois, and the larvae leave S-shaped galleries under the bark and D-shaped exit holes in it. A dead ash dries out and becomes brittle, which makes it harder and riskier to climb the longer it stands. Oaks are the other tree we watch. Oak wilt is a serious problem in Illinois, and red oaks with the disease can die within weeks of the first symptoms. The usual Midwest guidance is to avoid cutting or wounding oaks from April through October, so we schedule oak pruning and most oak removals for the dormant months.

Wires, parkways and digging

Electric service in Joliet comes from ComEd. If a tree or limb is touching a power line, stay away from it and call ComEd at 1-800-334-7661; we work on the rest of the tree once the line is clear. ComEd trims around its main distribution lines on a multi-year cycle using contracted line-clearance crews, so a tree near the street may already be on its list.

The parkway, the grass strip between the sidewalk and the curb, is city ground in Joliet, and the trees on it belong to the city. The Forestry Division removes dead and dying parkway trees itself, and city rules allow only a certified arborist, or crews working under one and licensed with the city, to prune or remove them. If your street has no sidewalk, the city sends a foreman or arborist out to decide where the parkway ends. Before a stump is ground, utility lines are marked through JULIE, Illinois's one-call system, by calling 811.

Get a Free Estimate

What a free estimate covers

• A walk around each tree: species, lean, dead wood, cracks, cavities and the root flare
• What the tree could hit: roof, garage, fence, driveway, the neighbor's side and the street
• Wires, parkway ownership and whether anyone else needs to be called first
• The method: felling, sectional removal, lowering on ropes, a lift or a crane
• Logs, brush and chips: left, cut to length or hauled away
• The stump, as its own line, ground now or later
• A written price for each tree

Joliet is the center of our area, and we work across the city and out into Will County and the edges of Kendall and Grundy counties. North along the river that means Crest Hill, Lockport, Romeoville and Lemont; west, Shorewood, Plainfield and Minooka; south and southwest, Rockdale, Channahon, Elwood, Manhattan and Wilmington; east, New Lenox, Mokena and Frankfort. The older river towns, Lockport and Lemont especially, have more large, mature trees on tight lots, much like Joliet's east side. The fast-grown subdivisions of Shorewood, Plainfield, Minooka and New Lenox have younger trees, but many were planted close to foundations and are now crowding roofs. Each town has its own rules for parkway trees, and the area pages cover what we know about each place.